A gaggle of White House staffers — Vice President Pence, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon — were in the room when Trump made the call.

In a statement, Russia said the two presidents discussed international issues and both emphasized the importance of fighting terrorism. They agreed to keep regular contact and "both sides showed their readiness for active, joint work to stabilize and develop Russian-American cooperation," according to the Kremlin.

There is no immediate comment from the White House.

After speaking with Chancellor Merkel for 45 minutes @POTUS is now onto his 3rd of 5 head of government calls, speaking w Russian Pres Putin pic.twitter.com/RPAWIgcO2C

Trump has previously said he's open to cooperating with Russia if it helps further American interests abroad. Before the call, Trump was noncommittal about whether he was considering lifting economic sanctions imposed on Moscow by the Obama administration.

The Saturday chat marked the first known time that Trump and Putin have talked since Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

Trump has long admired the Russian ruler, showering him with compliments long before he entered the race for the White House. In 2007, Trump said Putin was going a "great job" and in 2011, he added that he respects Putin's intelligence.

Donald Trump in the White House

Putin returned the flattery during the 2016 race, calling Trump a "talented person" and saying he is "the absolute leader of the presidential race."

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Putin was the third of five world leaders Trump chatted with on Saturday. He spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe before calling Moscow. Afterward, he called French President François Hollande from his residence.

It's not clear what Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump chatted about. (Alexei Druzhinin/AP)